Posts Tagged ‘abstract expressionism paintings’
Growing
This winter, I have painted such a variety of things. I began by drawing a group of items which were in my purse and by elongating and diminishing them, came up with an abstract painting of triangles and circles. Amazing! What followed were studies of circles and rectangles to create more abstract art. Along the way, I’ve gotten help with some of my oil paintings, too.
Recently, I’ve painted an abstract landscape, colorful fish, and a figure study of a plein air painter. Who knows what Teacher will come up with next? It has been a great ride! I have grown a lot and loved every minute!
Color
This winter I have been exposed to so much color! I visited the gallery of Leoma Lovegrove, well known painter in the Fort Myers area, in Matlacha, Pine Island, just off the coast of Fort Myers. Her paintings are among the most colorful I have ever seen. My acrylic teacher, Shirley Blake, is an abstract artist who loves color. Also, I found the web site of Wolf Kahn, a wonderful painter of abstract landscapes, which are full of colorful trees and backgrounds! His works are a wonderful inspiration to me.
I am so hoping that some of these colors will seep into my pores. I love color and am trying to do a better job of incorporating it into my paintings!
Abstract Expressionism and Music
Every now and then I find myself perusing the pages of the New York Times’ Art section. Under Music, recently, there was a wonderful reference to Mark Rothko, an expressionist painter who took his own life in 1970. At the posthumous opening of the Rothko Chapel, Morton Feldman, a composer and friend of the late artist, was in attendance. He explained to the philanthropists behind the Chapel that his own work had been influenced by the paintings of his friend.
The philanthropists asked Feldman to compose a piece to perform at the Chapel. The result was a stunning piece that, in my opinion, perfectly encapsulates the essence of abstract expressionism art. TullyScope, a music festival at the famous Alice Tully Hall, included a performance of the musical piece, performed by performers from Julliard. It’s so wonderful to read about the ways different art forms influence each other, as well as the continued appreciation for such works.
Framing My Paintings
Before I started my previous abstract art class, I went to Home Depot and bought a piece of masonite. A worker cut the 4’ x 8’ piece into as many 18” squares as possible for me and I took them home and gessoed them. They are a very inexpensive support for painting in oils or acrylics.
Two weeks ago I ordered metal frames from http://www.webpictureframes.com/wpfshoppingcart.html . I was able to buy them in very odd sizes like 5” x 18” and 5” x 12”, little pieces left over from the cut masonite board. They were inexpensive and fit each painting perfectly. I did have one problem and that was that the spacers to be used to hold the masonite to the front of the frame were too wide – probably made for glass. However, I had something that would accomplish the same purpose left over from previous framing experiences which I used. So I’m happy to say that all those paintings are now framed!
My Last Assignment
The last assignment in our abstract art class was to create a painting using the Meandering format. It would have wandering lines to unite the colors and move the eye around the painting.
I planned to paint the upper 2/3 in a light yellow color and the rest in blue. but I started painting and put blue in the middle, even going over it several times to get enough blue to stay. When I finished, I looked at what I had done, and I had 1/3 bright yellow, 1/3 dark blue and 1/3 red! I had completely lost track of my plan! It was so “in your face” that I put a light coat of white over it all and started again. Sometimes the only thing to do is trash it and start afresh!
My next class is “Paint your Passion” with the same teacher beginning Wednesday. I would really like to get this one finished so I can take it for critique.
Disposable Art
In his newsletter of Oct. 1, Robert Genn, the Canadian artist, mentioned that an artist, Jill, had written that she had had five solo shows and had lots of sales, and the curator had always spoken well of her work. She was then very surprised when the curator called her work “Disposable Art”, comparing it to amateur jewelry that you wear for a while and then throw it away! Jill said she paints ”with bright colors, imagination, whimsicality, and joy” and wanted to know what Robert thought of her work.
Robert’s reply surmised that perhaps the curator is one who believes that art has to be serious, that light hearted meant light weight. Also, sometimes light weight finds homes faster than heavy stuff, making for bitter curators, dealers, collectors and artists. His final admonition was that you should paint what you love, and not for the market.
I, also, paint with bright colors, imagination, whimsicality and joy. I’m hoping my minimalist, abstract expressionist paintings are not light weight.
Summer Workshops
My copy of Artist’s Magazine came today and in it are many advertisements for summer workshops. It’s not too early to start thinking about these now. Would I rather go to Maine, South Carolina, Napa Valley, the Hill country of Texas, Provence, or many other places?
In looking over a few of these notices, I find short biographies of the instructors, their gallery representation, their style and their history as instructors. Since I do abstract expressionism paintings and many workshops are for painters of the traditional impressionist style, I must really search to find a workshop that is right for me.
Debbie
Debbie is my eldest daughter. She is a very creative person and lives with her husband, George, in Ingleside, IL, in Lake County, north of Chicago.
Debbie has a degree in Graphic Design from the University of IL, but has never worked as a graphic designer – too much stress. She is interested in photography and has worked for a photo studio, vegetarian grocery, vegetarian diner, and as a nanny. Her boss, Barb, sells commercial real estate and Deb has worked for her since Barb’s older child was 3 1/2 years old. The children are now 18 and 13.
At this point, Deb must think of the future. She is interested in combining her interest in rescuing cats with her interest in photography. A few years ago she helped her cats do paintings for a fund raiser for her rescue group. They were abstract expressionistic paintings and one was a big orange self portrait by Colonel Mustard! Some of those paintings sold for up to $150. Deb now has a new Photo Shop program for her Mac computer, so I hope she can learn ways of helping the cats and herself financially as well as finding a satisfying vocation.
A Brief Overview of Abstract Expressionism
Following World War II, New York City was the epicenter for unique styles and creative energy. One of the main movements that spawned from this artistic whirlwind was abstract expressionism art. The term, first coined in 1946 by art critic Robert Coates, is used to describe a range of spontaneous and surrealist creations.
One of the main artists in this movement was Jackson Pollock. His drip paintings stressed the importance of the creative process, not just the finished product. While to the untrained-eye abstract expressionism may appear to be a muddled, amateurish art form, the pieces exhibit a subconscious attention to a greater theme.